Neighbors Demand Action on Abandoned House

GIRARDVILLE — Some people in the Schuylkill County community feel like prisoners in their own homes.

Bob Belifore walks behind a house in Girardville. The place is abandoned and a mess. Feral cats have taken up residence around the house and their population is growing. Belifore set up traps for the cats. He and his neighbors complain the abandoned house and cats are nuisances.

“If I take my baby’s car seat out of my car and put it on my porch, they spray it. I can’t leave my children`s car seats, strollers anything on our property at all. Everything has been in the house.” said Belifore.

Wanda Hoagland also lives near the abandoned home. She said the smell coming out of the house makes her gag.

“The smell, the mess, and you see the cats coming in all the time. They had 20 cats and now kittens now it’s not good, it’s not good,” said Hoagland.

Neighbor Joanne Edmondson said the place is a fire trap.

“My husband has already seen people walking in there with candles and flashlights and then you find needles on your sidewalk, needles on top of your garbage, so something has to be done with that place,” said Edmondson.

Dave Brennan lives next door to the abandoned home.

“It’s hell! Something has to be done about it, that`s all I can say. Disgusting all they have to do, something, that`s all,” said Brennan.

The Mayor wasn’t available for an on-camera interview, but he said one of the owners lives in England and pays taxes on the home. He added the borough just doesn’t have the money to tear the place down.